The World Divided By Two
by Christoph Andretti
Summary: The Dakota Twins, Kevin and Thomas Jones, have always lived relatively secluded, yet content, lives from the other states. That all changes when they get the break they need, and they land on the international stage, working with a cynical Brit, egotistic Prussian, flirty Frenchman, a violent Hungarian, and others. The whole world never saw them coming.
1. The Awesome Surprise

"Hey, bro. Wake up."

A sing-song, northern woodland infused accent flowed over the dark room. The whisper sneaked over from the open doorway toward the queen-sized dark blue bed in front of the shaded windows. The bare shoulders and dark brown helmet of hair that poked out from under the warm sheets ticked up in suprise before nestling onto the soft crater on the bed.

"Yah, yah. What is it?" He said in a slightly higher yet similar voice.

The man with a slender frame and average height strode to the man with his same colored dark hair and grabbed his shoulder before rotating him like a pig on a spindle. The man looked down at the mirror image of himself; a well-defined jaw with flawless porcelain skin and murky dark green eyes, bloodshot from the early morning despair of being alive. "We got the meeting today, right?" The standing twin declared more than asked.

"Oh, right, right. Give me a minute to get dressed. Oh god, Why today?" The man on the bed started to rise up and wiped his stinging and watery eyes.

"They scheduled this at the last one. You forgot?"

"Kev, why can't they do this at , like, night?" asked the man on the bed with a morsel of despair laid on his words.

"They are. It a two hour flight and I wanna go sightseeing."

"But Kev." The twin whined. "We've been there before.

"Like twice, Tommy. Get your clothes on and hop-sing.

"Fine, fine. Just go for a minute."

"What? Why can't I stay."

"Maybe I don't want ya to see me naked for the thousandth time, Kevin."

"Not the first time, and not the last, you goose." The twin named Kevin smirked at his half-naked doppleganger.

"Just be glad I didn't have anyone over last night."

"Just c'mon." Kevin walked over the warm carpet and went past the wooden door as he slammed it, eliciting a groan of annoyance and pain from the man in the dark room.

* * *

The copper 1978 Chevy Nova glides on the salt-tinged road that sliced through the white ocean of snow and ice. The flat sea melded onto the horizon, where it met the equally monochromatic sky on the cold winter morning.

For Kevin and Thomas Jones, life was almost too simple. The Dakota twins led a slow, placid lifestyle in the sparsely populated states of North and South Dakota. The two lived together most of the time, unless Kevin (the southern part) needed to go back to his home for countless meetings on national parks, small oil refineries (some of which illegal), and wildlife issues. For Thomas, his daily agenda was almost identical. Naturally, the twins were as close as a sidewalk to the ground. They had stuck together through the early days of their land (a period they couldn't remember with ease) all the way up to their division as official separate states.

They sat in silence while Kevin drove down the empty and narrow road, enjoying the small reprieve from the frosty air. The heater in the car blew out the soothing warm air and filled the slightly cramped cockpit while Thomas nodded his head in fatigue. The car turned onto a gravel road, jolting the two as they bounced on the cool leather seats. The small white jet in front of them grew larger an larger until they parked next to the brown box of a building. They both stumbled out of the car and took their bags out of the backseat, carrying their small bags to the building.

"Hey Tommy, Kevin. Gotcha stuff?" Said the balding old man hunched over the small table cluttered with brochures and old receipts.

"Yah, just throw it onto the plane. And let us know when your ready."

"Sure, just give us a sec. We'll letcha know, the man said."

The twins walked over to the rickety table in front of the window, showing the white private jet sitting in front of the gray backdrop of the northern landscape.

"So, did ya find out about this guy comin' to the meet?"

Yeah, I think it's the, uh, England guy. Arthur something-or-another."

"I thought it was states only like the others, right?

"Yeah, but America guy here says that this guy needs to talk to us. I think it's some sort of joint-committee thingy. Tryna get us involved with foreign issues, since we have nothin else on our plates, right?" Kevin said with sarcasm glazed over his words.

"Who told you that?" Thomas bit his thumbnail and flickered his eyes towards Kevin.

"No one. I just figured."

Thomas put his arm around his brothers slopes shoulders. "Ya know, I noticed we're right about these kinds of things a lot.

"You mean, I'm right."

"Well, point is, y'know we're always...outta the loop on these things, and I guess I just don't get why we keep coming to these things.

"Well, it's not like we haven't felt like this for a while, eh? Only reason we even know about half of these things is Chris, and he's all the way in Saint Paul, y'know." Kevin ruffled his brothers hair.

"I think we should take initiative on this one. Ya know a lot of these people barely know us. Now, We haven't done the best job, but it's been a few months, and I've been thinking," Thomas took a slow breath and looked towards his twin before continuing. "How about we talk at this one. I mean actually talk about stuff and be loud. Y'know, like them. Haven't you ever, like, wanted to know about Florida, or Virginia, or maybe just everyone?"

"Everyone?" Kevin raised his thin, black eyebrows in mock surprise.

"Yah, in a general type way!" Thomas smiled at his brother while he stroked the area above his upper lip, absent of any facial hair.

"I'd love that, Tommy, but it's not like we haven't done that. I mean...think of all these meetings we've had over the past few years. Barely a word to us. There's just somethin' about us. I don't know if its history, our resources, jealousy, our accents. I don't know."

"Yah. It's like we're the ones that aren't on the continent," Thomas nodded.

"And everyone loves Alasky, don't they?" Kevin and Thomas chuckled softly and Kevin coughed. They drifted into a small cloud of silence, taking in the soft rumble of the heater blaring out hot air from the ceiling.

"It's been a while since we've been with another country, though." Thomas said.

"Been a while since we've been with anyone. Unless yer keepin' something from me." Kevin winked at his brother whose mouth opened in exaggerated shock.

"Shut up." Thomas playfully nudged his smirking reflection with his free hand. "Ya know what I mean."

"Yeah, I know. Hey, maybe we should do that!"

"Oh yeah? Ya think so? Last time we got in trouble." Thomas said with a hint of cautious doubt.

Yeah, but we were visiting a whole 'nother place then. We can do anything if we stay in the country, right?" Kevin asked.

"I mean, if we can really get noticed other than being those guys at the back of the room, then sure."

"Oh, I betcha everyone will know who we are if we can get all friendly with the Brit guy. And Mister America would have to notice us, too." Kevin said

"Sound good. We'll talk bout it later on the ride over. I just wanna eat."

"Some pancakes in the vender over there."

"What? In the vender?" Thomas leapt to his feet with a grin etching itself onto his smooth face.

"Yah. Need a buck?"

"I'm good. Jesus Christ! Pancakes everywhere!" Thomas whispered to himself as he shook his head in mock frustration while he power walked to the lighted tower of food.

* * *

The conference center in the United Nations building was organized in a large half-circle. The black, reflective long tables stretched in short arches that were interrupted by the narrow paths to the black marble stage in the front. The rabid sounds of the states inside the room assaulted the ears of the silent Dakota twins as they walked in beside each other. Kevin looked up at the red electronic board and saw the time. He turned over to his brother and flicked his eyes to the vacant leather seats in the first row they reached.

The twins examined the people in the room. It appeared they were the last people to arrive, with the exception of the two expected nations. As they sat down, they looked to the glasses-wearing, thin man at the stage arguing in a loud voice at an unseeable person. After all, New York was hosting the meeting, and he was the most visible of the states at the UN. Thomas and Kevin smirked at the flustered states wild arm-waving antics before they heard the crashing of an arm onto the wide double doors right next to them.

"It's okay everyone. Don't get worried! We're here now!" The blue eyed man in a brown bombers jacket shouted, wearing an innocent smile. Next to him was a scowling man in a green uniform with somewhat messy blond hair and bullet thick eyebrows. His arms were crossed as the happier man took his arm and pulled him to the stage, like a cowboy leading a horse to the water fountain.

"Probably him," Thomas said to Kevin. Kevin snorted and rested his head on his smooth hands.

"Kev, how long is this? When can we do something?" Thomas said in a high pitched whine.

"We'll just what till somethin' comes up. Relax!"

"How long is this again?"

"All right, dudes. Thanks for showing up. Glad everyone's here. So lets just get this over with!" Alfred Jones shouted with a charismatic excitement. "I brought England dude over today cause he wants to talk to you all. So sit down and don't fall asleep, guys." Alfred winked at the open space above the states' heads.

Alfred nudged the country next to him that was massaging his forehead. He looked up in surprise and stared at the empty podium before taking a small stride to the wooden international soapbox. He cleared his throat and sighed.

"Okay everybody. This meeting has been...graciously called today so we can announce a brand new program that affects you all." Arthur glared at the absentminded Alfred who was staring off into the endless distance and cleared his throat loudly. Alfred yelped in surprise.

"Anyway, the nations last meeting in Berlin decided that we would try a new project. Because there's been apparent concern from a certain head-of-state of a certain country that will remain anonymous..."Arthur pause to shift his eyes towards Alfred again in impacience.

"...that international policy has not gotten enough support or input from the "smaller jurisdictions" of the countries. Therefore, we have decided to create International Provincial Commitees. These will pair up certain provinces with other countries and have them deal with various international issues." Arthur sighed softly and ran his hands through his bright blonde hair.

"And...because the complaint came from this country, and this country also has the largest number of provinces than any other, that's a fancy word for state by the way, we fell this experiment should...start here." Arthur finished in his native British accent.

"He's totally talking down to us" Kevin's low voice punctured the quiet air to Thomas's ears. Thomas nodded in agreement and grinned toward the flustered nation on the stage.

"So, yeah dudes. You get to be with oth-"

"Excuse me, but I'm talking you bloody git!" Arthur whipped his head towards Alfred and narrowed his eyes in annoyance.

"Someone gotta lay off the coke." Kevin and Thomas whispered simultaneously. They both stamped out chuckles and shoke their shoulders violently.

"Bottom line!" England shouted to stem the tense air of soft laughter around him. "All of you are paired up, so I will announce who you will work with on what. There are people outside that will point you to the right rooms for your information. When I call your name, please leave and they will direct you. Alright, so we will start with, god these names are weird! Alabaima, is it. Bama. Andrew Jones. You will be on the committee of-."

"Didya hear that, Kev!" Thomas whispered in a frantic stream.

"I feel like we just found the end of the rainbow. We didn't even have to do anything." Kevin wore a grin as long as the Mississippi River.

"Wow, I hope we get stuck with someone good." The two began to trade comments like two tennis players volleying a fuzzy green ball at light-speed.

Your just worried about if they look good."

You are, too" Kevin chuckled at the comment and leaned forward over the table.

"I hope we don't get something stupid, Tommy," Kevin said.

"Yah, they'd probably give us the Sewage committee or something or another."

"They already gave that one. Didn't ya hear?" Kevin said in a rapid fire response.

Thomas looked at his brother with a small frown. "Really? Who got that, ya thin-."

Kevin quickly hushed him. "There's only two more states left to us."

"Oh, god. My stomach is flipping right now."

"I know, Tommy. My back is so tight, y'know."

"We gotta calm down. What if we get all nervous like and mess it up?"

"Quiet! I think it's us!" Kevin whispered faster than a striking rattlesnake.

"Dakota's will be put together like the Carolina's. Both north and south are going to be on the Equal Rights Committee, with H-."

Arthur hopped up like a scared cat when he heard the roar of approval at the back of the room. The dark-brown haired twins lepta up from their seats and hugged each other in ecstasy. They hopped in a cohesive cyclone of joy towards the double doors next to them and pushed their way out of the room. Arthur gaped at the closing door and slammed his head down on the wooden podium, still hearing the mysterious twins yells reverberate beyond the doors.

"Yo, England dude. I haven't seen those two before. You sure that's right?" Alfred patted the slumped shoulders of the tired Englishman.

"I know it's right you git. I'm on the...Equal Rights Committee." Arthur said in a muffled and deflated voice, as if he was told his favorite Monty Python character had died.

"I'm sure it'll be fine. They're excited, dude! Anyway, They're all states, right? They're all like little versions of me, aren't they?" Alfred said with an innocent smile plastered on his face.

Arthur stifled a moan and made his arms go limp by his sides.

* * *

**Hello everybody and welcome to the story. This is definitely going to be a fun challenge, so any comments, reviews, ideas, suggestions, and anything else would be wonderful. Of course, don't forget to review. It's quick and its and easy way to vent out all of those feelings that you've pent up. Also, tell me your opinion on the main OC's. We haven't really gotten to see their personalities, so keep that in mind. Thanks and see you later.  
**


	2. The Next Stone Is Turned

Elizabeta Herdevary was feeling weird. Her head was laying in that ominous grey area between feeling tired and feeling encompassed with anger. After being shuffled off to New York the night before (her employer personally came to her house and practically dragged her out of bed to the waiting black limousine), she arrived with a neat few hours of jet lag and the uncomfortable oncoming of a migraine. Her head felt like a large block of stone being carried on a small stick of a podium.

All of this was before she saw Gilbert in the same car as her.

It turns out that the United Nations had a colossal amount of money, but could not afford another car. After all, Prussia wasn't a real country anymore.

The ride to the hotel was bad enough with her dizziness, but the high crackling swagger of and gab of the awesome Prussia was enough to get Elizabeta to jump off of the George Washington bridge.

Speaking of which, they got lost and did not get to the hotel until the sun was pushing its giant fist of light through the clear lavender sky.

So here she was, sitting in the white, bare room with nothing but Francis Bonnafoy and, of course, Gilbert for company. Even worse, her only connection to the outside world of sanity, her phone, lost all power.

When she heard the joyful cheers flying through the down the hall with the force of a crash test dummy driven car, Elizabeta could safely say she was out of the grey area and into full force rage-induced migraine.

"You two shut up!" She shouted at the conversing nations who whipped their heads at her.

"Don't you hear that?" She pointed to the door as the sound rose in volume.

They both stared at the door in rare silence as they heard the cheers move closer to the wooden door.

Please don't let them come. Please don't let them come. Please don't let them come. Please don't let th-."

The brown door was pushed open violently and two identical people with slightly tousled dark brown hair were gasping to catch any precious air they could. They put one hand on each others back to support each other until they slowed their heavy breathing and looked up to the center of the plain room. The door ominously creaked to a close without any prodding.

Neither twin could say they were particularly impressed. While there was a quite attractive Hungarian, her forehead clutching and small whimper of pain was not encouraging. They're eyes shifted to the next two behind her.

A long, blond haired man which a small stubble on the tip of his chin was sitting by a milk white man with dark red eyes and a slightly hooked nose. They were both holding cards and dropped them as the the blonde man's cobalt eyes attached to the twins before a large smile erupted on his face.

"Oh..uh...hey everyone. I'm...uh...Kevin Jones."

"Yah, and I'm Thomas. We're the-."

"Dakotas." Kevin finished while a he continued to scan the motley bunch in the room.

The woman with her heart shaped head in her hands sighed deeper than a cascading waterfall and stood up. She adjusted her wavy, long hair and walked the few feet to the anxious brothers at the door.

"Hi I'm Hungary. Elizabeta Herdevary. Sorry for wha-." Elizabeta's voice gargles to a halt as Thomas reached around her frame and reeled her in for an intimate hug. Her eyes expanded to the size of dinner plates before she felt the firm grip slide away from her.

"Sorry. Just wanted you to be comfortable." Thomas said as he was pulled away by Kevin.

"We're just really excited." Kevin said in a flat voice.

"Okay, woman. My turn!" The pale man nudged aside Elizabeta like an annoying tick and stood in front of the two with a wiry smile.

"Allow me to introduce my awesome self. I am the Awesomeness that is Prussia. Hopefully, being from where America is, you can know just how lucky you are to be here with me. So, any questions on my superiority?" Gilbert said with slanted eyes.

"You idiot! Your not in charge." Elizabeta shouted as she raised her arms in despair.

The twins stared at The Prussian with a confused intrigue. They both put they're hands up to there chins and caressed them with the valley between their thumb and finger as the squinted their eyes. After a few silent seconds, Kevin and Thomas's eyes sprung to a full moon, like a dam that broke open.

"Wait a minute! Your not a real country. Your a fake!" The twins shouted in unison.

Elizabeta could only contain Gilbert as he lunged to the Dakota twins and swiped at them with his bony knuckles. Gilbert growled in anger and his eyes grew to a maniacal size as he threatened the two calm brothers in front of him.

"Of course I'm real. I'm the leader of the real Teutonic Knights! In the east of the greatest empire in existence! You can't be as stupid as that stupid austr-"

"Say it! Go ahead! Say it." Elizabeta said while she reached with one hand to the frying pan that was hidden on the floor behind one of the desks. She held the pan above the angry Prussian's head, and he stopped talking like a mouse caught in a trap.

"Hello there. You two Amerique's states?" The tall blonde man who was staring at the scene spoke in a brick-thick French accent.

"Oh, yeah! Your that French fella I heard about."

"Sorry about my friend. He gets high strung. I'm France. Francis, so it's easy to remember that name.

"I'm Kevin. New up here, so don't have much to say. And that's-."

"I'm Thomas. But you can call me Tommy if you want." Thomas interrupted, eliciting an annoyed sideways glance from his brother.

"Well, Thomas, I like your voice."Francis leaned in and Kevin saw his jaw move, suggesting a whisper. Thomas's eyes shot open and his face suddenly eased into a rose-red. He covered his mouth with one hand and clutched it, as if he saw a three-headed dog.

Kevin's eyebrows contracted like a drawbridge as he was about to voice his confusion. He was interrupted by the door opening with the shorter Englishman striding into the room.

"Okay everybody. I see your a little acquainted. So I guess I'll go over the details. First, anyone like a drink. Not alcoholic!" England pointed to Gilbert whose mouth snapped shut like a disappointed alligator.

"Hey, uh, Mister England?" Thomas asked raising his hand.

"It's Britain." Arthur responded tersely.

Everybody stared at Arthur and Kevin looked up to the ceiling before snapping his gaze back at the impatient country. "What?" Kevin asked.

"It's Britain. Not England."

"I don't understand. Everyone calls you England."

Arthur let out a cool bark of a laugh. "Since when? You three!" He shot his hand to the three other nations sitting next to each other behind the Dakota brothers. "When has anyone called me that!"

"Angleterre, it's no big deal. Lets jus-."

"Shut up frog! I didn't ask you. You! East Germany. When has an-."

"Don't call me East! I'm the amazing and awesome land of Prus-."

"I don't care. Just answer my question. Does anyone call me that?" Arthur said in an exasperated shout.

"Wait. Mister England. Britain. Whatever. Can we just get this started." Thomas said in a rapid fire speed, like he was trying to be the adult on the playground. The room snapped into a silent trance as the people inside looked up to the still standing state.

Arthur sighed and rubbed his forehead before looking back up to the stoic faces in front of him. "Okay, fine. I'm sorry. That was quite rude of me."

"Do you wanna hear a joke?" Thomas said in a flat voice.

"Wh-what? A joke."

"Yah, just a little thing to tone everyone down, y'know? Tommy, tell a joke." Kevin said.

"If its fine with you, your majesty." Thomas said with a playful tone in voice, causing a huff from Arthur.

"Uhh...so there was this guy at a bar. And he...ordered a shot of something. I forgot. Anyway!" Elizabeta put her head in her hands again as Gilbert and Francis stared straight at the slightly anxious state.

"So he sits there and he just stares at the drink, y'know? So this trucker guy is sitting with his friend at the table by him and notices he hasn't drunk anything. So after an hour or so, he walks up and drains the shot glass." Thomas smirked and turned his head to Kevin who put his hand on Thomas's shoulder in reassurance.

Kevin kept his pasty smile and continued. "So then the guy starts to cry all of a sudden. The trucker guy starts feelin' bad and says 'Hey, I'm really sorry bout that. Ill buy you another.'" Kevin said in a fake deep voice.

"So the man turns around and says 'Its not that. It's just that I got fired today, My wife left me, my house got robbed, and my car broke down. And just when I'm about to end it all, you come in here and drink my poison." Thomas finished with a flourishing hand flick and visibly lowered his shoulders in relaxation.

The room was quieter than a bad improvisation show's audience. Out of the disappointing dearth of silence, a whistling crackle lit up the soundless room.

"Oh man. That was awesome! Why didn't I think of that one!" Gilbert tilted his head back in laughter and clutched his shaking stomach. Elizabeta groaned in annoyance and kept her head covered. Francis smiled genially and looked at the Thomas standing on the middle of the room. He supported his head with one arm and rested it on the desk. Kevin saw the quiet reaction and his smile disappeared like a sponge wiping of a dinner plate's dirt. Then, Francis gave a wink with his blue eyes and sighed softly.

"Uhh...Gee, sorry Mister...I gotta go to the bathroom. Ill be right back." Thomas whipped his body around to face the door and he yanked on the silver bar on the door before powering out of the room like a mouse that escapes from a cage.

Kevin looked at the exiting state with an inquisitive face, as if he was trying to piece together a long crossword puzzle. His face lit up as his mouth barely hing open. He turned to Arthur and started to walk backwards towards the door.

"Oh! I gotta go to. Twin powers, y'know." Kevin smiled at the frowning nations.

Kevin opened the door and walked out of the room to see the empty white hallway that was lit by the cheap panels on the ceiling. The cool draft of the hallway pushed at Kevin as he walked briskly to the nearest men's restroom, which was a mere three doors away from the cramped conference room.

When he pushed in the grey door and turned the white stone wall to reach the open expanse of the restroom, he saw the brown haired tip of Kevin's head, submerged under the cool river of a sink faucet.

"What happened?" Thomas head jolted up and hit the hard metal faucet.

"Jesus Christ, Kevin. Don't sneak up on a guy. If I did that to you, you woulda tried to decapitate me." Thomas rubbed the throbbing back of his head and turned off the water as he wore a pained expression.

"So, that French guy winked at you, right? Is that what it is?"

"It's not that. Well, that guy walked up to me and whispered to me." Thomas paused as he grimaced again.

"So, what'd he say?" Kevin asked.

"We'll, he went along the lines of 'I'd like to hear the voice even more' then he told me his room number. He said 419 Grand Plaza, and that's we're we stay. I think the guy actually means it. i mean, he is France, right? so what if he is after me? Thomas finished and then grabbed some more air for his hungry lungs.

"Tommy, I did want to ask you, but I guess now is the better time. Are you still homophobic?" Kevin leaned in closer and looked over his brother's shoulders, checking for any intruders in the empty restroom.

"Wh-whaddya mean, Kev? You know I've been that way for a while. Why would anything change?" Thomas waved his hands in frustration in the closing space between him and Kevin.

"Because its pointless, Tommy. You've barely even associated with anyone like that, and you avoid them like a plague. I mean, a lot of people that did anything to me were straight and I'm not afraid of straight peo-."

"It's not about gettin' hurt, Kev!" Thomas interrupted with a frantic, high-pitched voice. "It's about me just not wanting to be by a group of people. Why is that a problem. White people didn't like black people. White people didn't like Indians. So I'm not nea-."

"Don't talk about them, Tommy. Don't talk about the Natives like tha-." Kevin said in a quick and fervent voice.

"Let me finish, Kev. Let me finish. I don't do anything bad, okay. I don't go out of my way to do anything bad to them. You know that. But yeah, Everybody has that one type of person they just don't wanna be around, y'know. Why is it wrong for me to have one too?

"Because I thought we taught each other than that. Remember all the trouble that happened to us for something like that?"

"But I don't do what those kind of people did, Kev. Y'know I'm not like that, yah? Why is it so wrong to be uncomfortable by certain people? I'm sorry, Kev. I don't wanna mess anything up, and ya know I won't try to, but...can you just make sure that French guy doesn't get by me. I have a feeling this guy won't just leave me alone if I just said to leave me alone."

"Yah, Chris said that when he went to Louise's house that one time. He's persistent." Kevin sighed and move toward his brother and out his arm around him as they started to walk out the bathroom. They felt the slow breeze of the cool air conditioned wind blow through their hair like a tractor slowly plowing through a farm field.

"I know I can't control who you like and don't, and I still don't understand the logic behind how you feel." Kevin said softly to his twin brother's ear.

Thomas shifted his dark emerald eyes towards Kevin and sighed as deep as the clear blue waters of the Pacific Ocean. "It's not logic Kev. It's just how I feel. I know it's wrong, but I just don't know what to do." Thomas said in a quiet and slightly dejected voice.

"It's fine, Kev. Honestly, even if you weren't like this, you would probably be scared of that guy anyway." Kevin smirked.

"I'm not scared of him, idiot." Thomas nudged him and they both broke into a light chorus of chuckle.

The two found themselves back to the opaque wooden door, and Thomas gripped the cold metal handle.

"So, we'll just not sit by that guy. Lets just stay close to the England guy. Or at least the hot Hungarian."

"That other guy doesn't seem bad, either." Thomas said with a ghost of a smile on his face.

Kevin adjusted his slightly messy hair from in front of his eyes before returning the smile. "You just like him because he laughed at your joke. By the way, get some new material. You've been telling that joke everyday for like twenty years." Kevin said.

Before Thomas could get a protesting word in edgewise, Kevin yanked led the door open, causing the strong, cool draft to flow into the room like a cloud blowing its soft air into the sky.

* * *

**A/N: This isn't a reflection on the State of North Dakota, BTW. I just thought it'd be interesting. Although we have yet to scratch the surface on the story or characters, I think we have delved into an interesting situation. As always, I plead for reviews or suggestions of any kind. Your opinion matters! They help everybody. i get to become a better writer, and you all can let out those awful things called emotions out without any fear of what others will think. It's a win-win, honestly. Thanks, and good luck!**


	3. The Dinner Club

The Grand Plaza Hotel in New York was a tall, brownstone colossus of a hotel, stretching over the wide city block like a tense rubber band. The flags of various nations on the front whipped in the soft northern breeze and tossed the abandoned leaves of the sidewalk around the buzzing urban air like a conductor leading an orchestra with his hands. The easy chill snaked around the walking people on the sidewalk before bouncing off the large building, hitting the occupied windows of the hotel.

Inside, a group of international representatives were sitting around a white linen covered table with a matching candle flickering in the bright, chandelier-lit dining room. The soft rumble and clatter of voices bouncing off of the tan walls waved through the large ballroom. The strong smell of garlic and chicken sashayed from the kitchen and enveloped the restaurant. At the corner of the restaurant, in front of a a large bay window showing the busy sidewalks of nighttime New York, six business-dressed people were silently sitting around a single yellow candle at the center of the table.

"So what's Iran like?" Thomas Jones asked. He and his brother were sitting opposite the other three nations, save for the aggravating Gilbert, who was persuaded by Elizabeta to sit as far away from him as possible with a healthy barrage of insults and threats. Deciding to sit next to the twins, he sat across from Francis who was adjusting the violet cape on the back of his wooden chair.

"Didn't you ask that already, Tommy?" Kevin asked.

"Excuse me for wanting to know where we're going."

"Can you not yell please! I want to eat without getting a headache." Arthur said tersely.

"Too late for me." Elizaveta said as she massage the temple of her head.

"Okay, well, maybe we should all get to know you two since we don't have to go over any more info until tommorow." Arthur looked at Kevin and Thomas, "So...I guess you should tell us about yourselves."

"Oh! I'm...uh...well I'm-."

"I'm Kevin" the lower voiced state said.

"And I'm Thomas. So I guess you could use our voices and all to tell us apart."

Yeah, wouldn't want it to be all that confusing." Kevin said with a smirk sewn onto his relaxed face. "I guess there's not much to tell. I figured we'd just kinda learn about each other as we went. Kinda hard to just get it all out at once, don't ya know that?"

Arthur squinted his eyes and looked towards Francis who shrugged at him.

"So I guess we should know more-"

"About you all." Thomas finished with a small overlap on Kevin's voice.

"Okay. Well then, as you already know, I'm Arthur Kir-"

"Um...Mister United Kingdom sir? That's what we can call you, right?" Thomas asked as he tilted his head like a confused dog.

"It's Britain. We've already gone over that!" Arthur said with a tongue as sharp as barbed wire.

"Oh yeah. I got it. The waiter guy coming." Thomas shot back like a loaded spring.

The Black waiter walked closer to the table in his white button down short and apron complete with black dress pants. The short brown haired waiter with soil-colored eyes smiled as he reached his destination and faced the table.

"Hi everybody," he said in a confident, nasally voice,"Hope you had a great day. What can I get you to start out with?" He looked at Thomas who leaned away from the standing waiter.

"Oh ill just go last." Everybody except Kevin, who was looking down at the ivory tablecloth, looked at the state with perched eyebrows and slightly gaped mouths.

"Okay. So what will you be having?" The waiter motioned his head to Kevin.

"Just a glass of milk." Kevin said with a tinge of contentment sprinkled on his words.

"We actually ran out of milk an hour ago. Sorry." The waiter said with a smile still plastered on his gleaming face.

"What?" Kevin said in a quick rebound.

"Is there anything else I could get you? Coffee?"

"Well, that's gonna be a problem. I don't like dark."

"I can bring some creamer if its no problem."

"There's no way you can get some milk?" Kevin unconsciously shook his head in disbelief.

"We're sorry. Well let you know if there's anymore."

Kevin sighed and looked back at the tablecloth. He ran his hands through his soft brown hair before shifting his eyes back to the smiling waiter. "Okay, just get a bunch of creamer."

"Creamer with that?" The waiters eyes grew and he eagerly held a black pen to his notepad of orders.

"No, just a mountain of creamer." Kevin shook his head and continued to state at the man who was nodding away the terse atmosphere around the table.

Okay, so what will you ha-"

"I'll have the greatest German beer you have!" Gilbert said in a bombastic command.

"Oh. Sorry. We don't carry foreign beers. But we do have different wines fro-"

"No. That's ridiculous! I can't be poisoned by that unawesome glorified mud juice. Just get me some Russian water, at least." Gilbert waved away the waiter.

"Uh...what is that, again?" The waiter's face changed to a flat expression of concern as he tried to trudge through the orders like a spider crawling through mud.

"Vodka, dummkopf!"

"Prussia! Calm down. We are in a resterau-"

"Angleterre, please." Francis said as he swiped his head from the annoyed Arthur to the waiter, who was fidgeting like a nervous owl in front of the rectangular table. "I'll have Merlot."

The waiter scribbled the name of the drink onto the paper notebook. "And finally, you miss?"

Elizabeta glared at the waiter. "Water."

The waiter silently walked away with a small spring in his step. Thomas stared at the retreating waiter.

Kevin felt a quick tapping on his padded shoulder.

"He never got my order." Thomas whispered.

"No big deal. Wait till he comes back." Kevin said in a normal voice. He scanned the quiet people at the table and licked his moist lips.

"So, Prussia," Arthur leaned over the white tablecloth to Gilbert, who smirked in recognition of his name. "How come Germany sent you over here."

"Yes! Give me a reason to clout him over the head next time I see him." Elizabeta said as she brushed her hair behind her small ears.

"Well, West was holding the last meeting, and he has a whole bunch of stuff to do. Apparently, they said it was fine and sent the awesome me in his place." Gilbert finished with a high pitched cackle.

"We'll, doesn't answer much, but I guess it will do. So you two." Arthur turned his stoic gaze towards Thomas and Kevin.

"Yeah. What's up?" They said in unison.

"You wanted to know more about what we were doing tomorrow."

"I remember we were goin' over to...the airport and leaving tomorrow, yeah?" Kevin said as if he was giving the wrong answer on a test.

"Yes, but I mean what to do in Ir-."

"Mr. England. I want to ask yo-."

Britain!" Arthur reared forward in his chair like a rhinoceros ready to charge a gun-carrying human. "My name is Britain. Why does no-."

"Really?" Francis said with a grin and a small sparkle in his light-blue eyes. "Because you don't mind what I call you at night." Francis chuckled.

Arthur froze in shock as his mouth tried to shape itself to create comprehensible words as he combed his brain for a response."Wh-wha! I...I can barely stand being in the same room as you for two seconds, you stupid frog! Say something like that again and."

"For the love of god! Sit down and stop yelling in my ear!" Elizabeta reached over Francis and yanked on Arthur's green sleeves to force him back on the wooden seat.

"I'm really sorry, Thomas. What were you saying?" Elizabeta asked.

"Have you ever played beer pong before?" Thomas asked standing straight as an iron board in his chair.

The people around the table fell into a pool of black silence.

"Uh...why would you want to know that?" Elizabeta asked.

"Well, I figured we're all gonna together for a while, and why not get to know about whatever, y'know?" Thomas said in his woodland mid-western accent.

Arthur blinked like a flickering projector before responding. "I...I think I have at some point. I just haven-"

"England dude gets hammered every week." Gilbert's word flowed into the thick air around the table.

"Yes, Angleterre. That explains why you don't remember many of these nights." Francis nudged Arthur slightly to shake him out of his reverie.

"Shut up!" Arthur said to Francis before turning back to Thomas. "Are you trying to get me to play with you?" Arthur asked in loud disbelief.

"Oh, yeah! I just figured we could all...y'know. Enjoy ourselves." Thomas said with a nervous grin.

"I'm sure all of our rooms combined has a decent stash of alcohol needed. Although if you don't want to, you don't have to. After all, it is a long, boring, and dull flight, don't ya know?" Kevin said in addition with a growing smirk. Arthur stared at the two brothers across the table and sighed.

"Look, I don't know if this is some weird tradition, but I don't want to play beer pong. We have to get ready for tomorrow, and the flight leaves at twelve. Not to mention, I am still on my time." Arthur said.

"It's three or so over there, right?" Kevin asked.

"How'd you know that?" Thomas asked as he turned his head to his left to look at him.

"The clocks around here. One of them said something about London." Kevin said.

"Bottom line, we have to get to Iran on time. So just remember, nothing out of line. And you two," he pointed at Thomas and Kevin. "Don't play hero or anything. We are just taking notes for the U.N, and I don't ne-."

"What makes you think we're the ones doing anything wrong?" Kevin said as he pointed to himself.

"Are you saying we are going to cause problems?" Elizabeta asked with an incredulous look on her face. Kevin shifted his head to face her and then quickly looked at the other nations around him.

"Well, we've been around you folks for like..."

"...an hour or so and all you do is fight and yell." Thomas cut into Kevin's statement.

"So you guys aren't making the best impression for us. I think we're supposed to fill out a separate report on you guys, too. Wouldn't want anything incriminating on that, right?" Kevin raised an eyebrow and leaned closer to Arthur in front of him.

"Wait. Are you threatening us?" Elizabeta said in a shrill voice as her eyes narrowed into thin slits.

"Oh no. We just wanted you all to know." Thomas said. The rest of the patrons at the table looked around the airy restaurant. Francis drummed his fingers on the table as they made a soft thud over the soft linen.

"I have a dream catcher collection." Everybody looked back up at the voice and saw Kevin shifting his eyes around the table. "Just thought you wanted to know," He shrugged.

"Okay, look." Arthur said pointedly. "You both need to promise not to cause any trouble. This is serious business alright. It's not like we're gonna go and see the sights and act like tourists scouting locations for anything. I mean, we are probably the most important of these things, and I need focus from everyone. Don't you all realize yet how important this is. I mean...we don't just do this so we ca-."

"Okay, Your majesty we get it." Gilbert cut through the small tirade, obviously annoyed at the controlling Brit. "We're not saving the world, alright. We get what your trying to-."

Arthur flopped his head onto the table that made the empty glasses and plates rattle like bell as he encompassed his head with his covered arms. The rest of the table grew silent while the exasperated Englishman stayed in his despairing state.

"Angleterre, what's wrong mon ami?" Francis said as he patted Arthur on the back.

Francis heard a small whimper of a comment sneak through the enclosed space around Arthur's blonde hair.

"What was that? What game are you talking about? Name of something's wrong? What?"

Arthur lifted up his head and swept away some hair poking at his eyes. He sighed deeply and swatted one hand up in the air, like he was brushing away a large fly.

"It's nothing."

"Can I tell you something." Arthur turned to the higher-pitched Thomas and glared at him in annoyance.

"To me?" Arthur asked.

"Yeah. Well, everyone." Thomas nodded his head.

Arthur paused and looked at Francis, who was smiling at the waiting twin. "Okay, what is it?" He asked.

"We'll. there's six of us here, right? So it reminds me of this story. You know what I mean, right?" Thomas turned to Kevin.

"Yeah, keep going." Kevin said.

"So there's this story." Thomas cleared his throat as he lifted his hands in front of him. "There were this big Indian chief called -. And he was in a lot of trouble with the...American military. This was back in the day when the Natives were getting all upset at the government, right? So this guy,_, he was in trouble for not wanting to leave from_. That was a big reserve he lived at. So now the military wanted him to move. So, Kev tell the rest. My throats getting dry.

"Just hurry up. It's not like there's that much left." Kevin said with a tinge of annoyance bordering his words.

"I don't wanna ruin the quality of the story." Thomas smiled as he lifted his palms up and shrugged.

Kevin rolled his eyes. "He tells this story a lot when he's drunk. So anyway, the military closed in on _ and he started to run to Canada, but they were gaining on him. Eventually, one Sunday came and they were about ten or so miles out. Unfortunately, the m-."

"What the hell is miles? Like a person or something?" Gilbert snarled.

"Idiot!" Elizabeta swatted Gilbert's head. "That's American measurement. Like inches or pounds."

"Isn't pounds your money, Angleterre?" Francis said softly.

"Yes, but if you actually paid attention when you came over Francis, you'd see the different system used in America. Still stupid, if you ask me."

"Thanks, everyone. But can we finish? Thomas, round it up, yeah?" Kevin said in a strong voice.

"Okay. So anyway, they were about to be cornered, yeah? Like a bunch of cattle in a pen. But they were getting closer to the border, so close they could almost taste it. But then, _ and his men were just about to close up the path to freedom. Everything had turn for the worst, but then boom!" Thomas closed his hands through the cool air in front of him into a sharp clap.

Kevin picked up the fallen story. "Six masked folks in some native get-up came right from behind and took out the guys in front of _. They charged through the opening and flew to freedom. Nobody ever saw the six guys again. As a matter of fact, immediately after those guys fell off their horses, they vanished." Kevin clenched his fists and flicked them open.

"Point is, we're not looking for trouble. That's obvious, but we just want you to know that we do care about this." Thomas rested his oval-shaped head onto his hands.

"But we want it to work, y'know? Just in like some sort of...special way."

"Special way?" The nations around the table repeated.

"Yeah, special way!" The twins said simultaneously with a grin on their faces.

The patrons around the table were drenched by a blanket of silence. A small cough by Francis was the only thing that brought them back to a realm of liveliness. Elizabeta breathed heavily and looked at Gilbert, who was tearing off the corners of a napkin. She looked over to Arthur, who stared at the thick ivory tablecloth.

"I think I understand." Francis nodded at the twins and moved his eyes towards Thomas. They looked at each other in silence before another quick wink invaded Thomas's vision. "I get it, right mon ami?" Francis stressed the last two words as he leaned closer over the table. Thomas's eyes were as large as a doorknob as his mouth opened slightly in shock. Obscured by the table top, Thomas quickly searched the pocket of air around him for reassurance, and found it as he gripped it firmly. Thomas kept holding onto Kevin's hand as Thomas looked at the grinning Frenchman before flashing his gaze back to Arthur, who still wore a contemplative frown on his lowered face. Kevin smirked as he leaned sideways towards Thomas, squeezing his hand in the process.

A loud slam ran shock waved over the delicate glassware and picked everyone out of their quiet state.

"Where's that damn waiter, anyway?" Gilbert said in a loud voice.

* * *

**So another one off the press. As always, don't hesitate to constructively comment, review, suggest ideas, anything. Its your chance to really get those pent up feelings out, so take it for what it's worth. Thanks.**


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